Beaches and Islands
by MapleandPheonixFeather
Summary: There are some things I didn't ever want to think about. My best friend dating my brother was one of them.


"Can you believe we're done with Hogwarts?" I ask, laying on the beach in my brand new blue swimsuit, my red curls spread out on my towel. "It's like my entire future is just laying ahead of me, and all I see is a black hole of uncertainty. Why didn't I think of career options earlier?" I sigh dramatically, flipping onto my tummy.

"Oh, shut up, Lily," my best friend Emma says, rolling her hazel eyes at my sarcasm. "It's not as if you've known exactly what you were going to do since you were three or anything. I'm just really glad you decided to wait until September to leave."

I look over at my best friend. Her brown hair is pulled up in a ponytail, her arms are behind her head, and there's something in her eyes telling me that she honestly is glad that I'm still around. Regardless, I know she isn't looking for a sentimental answer, she's just glad to have one last summer of being young with her best friend. "What, and miss the annual Weasley lakeside vacation? Absolutely not. Besides, Uncle Charlie is actually here this year, and he's head of training, so I couldn't have gone yet, anyway."

The sun is bright and warm on my shoulder blades, and I'm thankful that Teddy taught me the sun blocking spell last summer.

"When does everyone else get here, anyway?" Emma asks.

"And by everyone, you mean Teddy, right?" I say, winking at her.

"No, Lily, that's you," Emma replies, nudging me with her rather large hand.

"Yeah right, " I say, but my face, which is burning, says otherwise.

"Oh my gosh, Lily, you're ridiculous, you know that, right?"

I roll my eyes. "Everyone should be here now, by the way," I say.

"Does that mean I have to share the beach now?" Emma pouts. She looks quite ridiculous when she does this. Emma hasn't looked like a child for years now, with her tall, broad stature.

"On the bright side, they'll all be shirtless. Well, the boys, at least, so you'll have a nice view," I say, poking her right above the hip and causing her to squirm and fight off a giggle.

"Yeah, because that's exactly why I come on vacation," Emma says, sitting up. "To check out all your cousins. Come on, Lily, I've been around your cousins for years. If I haven't fallen for one yet, I doubt it's going to happen now."

I sit up with Emma and push my hair out of my face. "You never know, Emma. A lot of them have changed a lot since Hogwarts. Louis started working out last year, and he looks great. Fred is working for his Uncle George, and the ladies just love him. They aren't all obnoxious like Hugo and Albus were. You may fall in love with one yet."

I push myself onto my feet and turn to look at Emma.

"You're blocking my light," she grins. "How am I going to get a nice tan if the sun can't reach me?" I smile in return. Emma has never cared about tanning. She finds it boring and can't sit still long enough to get a good colour, anyway.

"Come on," I say and I hold out my hand. "Let's get in the water."

Emma grabs my hand and I pull her up. She looks out towards the lake. "Race you!" she yells, as she runs towards the water.

I lose, which is to be expected, given that Emma had a head start. She laughs and splashes water at me. I dive into the water to avoid being splashed. When I come up, Emma is floating on her back, eyes closed. I swim over to her.

"Hey, do you want to swim out to the island?" I say, pointing at the small nearby landform that we have been swimming to since we were old enough to do so without help. Emma smiles.

"You bet I do."

The water is cool and refreshing on my skin while the sunlight reflects in tiny diamonds off the surface of the water, causing my world to sparkle and gleam. The smooth feeling of the water and the gorgeous rays of sunlight make me feel as if this must be heaven. This is what I come for every year. The feeling that it's just me and nature, with no worry in the world.

Emma and I walk onto the island, soaking wet, a little tired, and completely content. We sit on the rocky shoreline and look over towards the beach.

"I could just stay like this forever, you know," Emma says. "Just me and you, the water, the sun, and no worries about what I'm going to do this autumn."

"Quit worrying, Emma, everything will come together, you'll see," I say, dangling my toes in the water. "Just give it time, you'll find you're calling yet."

"I hope so," Emma replies.

We sit in silence, just staring into the distance, watching the water hit the beach. The trees beyond the beach are still; there's no wind today. The world is blissfully quiet and beautiful.

Suddenly, our stillness is broken by the whoops of three of my cousins (or who I assume are my cousins), who run into the water and begin wrestling each other, making lots of noise and commotion. I sigh to myself, my perfect moment broken.

"Shall we head back in?" Emma asks. "People might be worried as to where we are."

"Yeah, because we don't do this every year," I say sarcastically. Emma gives me one of her signature looks, one I swear she learned from her dad. "Fine," I sigh, "let's head in."

The boys are still at it when we approach the beach. I don't even think that they've noticed us. Upon closer inspection, I see that it's Louis, Teddy, and James who have come out. I motion to Emma to stop about ten feet back. I put a finger to my lips, and dive deep under the water, moving stealthily towards the boys. I open my eyes and see a pair legs in front of me. I wrap my hands around the ankle of one and yank it towards me.

Though the person stumbles, to my disappointment, they don't fall, and instead pulls me up out of the water by wrapping their arm around my waist.

"Hey, Lily," a purple haired man says to me. "What are you doing grabbing people's legs?" I shrug in response. The man smiles. "Well, I guess we'll have to soak you for scaring me so badly."

Teddy throws me into the water. I sink to the bottom, where I push off the ground, and come shooting back to the surface. I smile coyly and throw my hair back in what I think is a very flirtatious manner, all while praying my swimsuit has stayed sufficiently tied.

The first thing is see is my brother shaking his head in amusement at me. The second thing I notice is that Emma has swam in to meet us and is staring at my brother with a look of bewilderment on her face. Her eyes travel from his shaggy black hair, to his chiselled shoulders, down his chest to his stomach. Her eyes seemingly stop at the top of his swim trunks. She finally seems to realise that she's been staring, and turns her head away, blushing. I look at James again. To my relief, he hasn't even looked at Emma, and instead has put Louis into a headlock. I'm a little shocked at Emma's reaction, and wonder if perhaps she has noticed something about him that I haven't, like a huge rash covering him from head to shorts line. There is no other reasonable explanation, I decide, so I take a look myself.

All I see is that he is quite pale, has grown a bit more muscle in his shoulders, and that his hair is in need of a good tidy. Unfortunately, James notices me looking.

"I know I'm good looking and all, but why are you looking at my bellybutton?" James asks with a smirk.

My eyes snap up to meet his. "Oh, I'm not," I say, "though now that you mention it, you could totally use some toning work in the abdominal area." James looks a little surprised. "No, actually, I was looking at your swim trunks. They're new, aren't they? They also match my swimsuit perfectly."

"Right," James says, pulling at his shorts. Out of the corner of my eye, I think I can see Teddy smirking. He must have caught everything I did.

I turn to my best friend. "Come on, Emma, why don't we head in?"

"Oh, don't you want to join us?" Teddy asks, faking a pout. "I know how much you love to wrestle with us boys."

I blush at the connotation that I'm sure he didn't realise he was adding, but I quickly regain my composure. "Well, I might be able to take you on, but Emma here can't, so I think we'll just head in." Inwardly, I groan. All five of us know that Emma could have taken on each of them in turn and won.

We walk onto the beach and grab our towels and our sandals. Once we have walked down the path to the cabins and are well out of earshot, Emma begins to talk.

"What happened to your brother?"

"Nothing?" I ask. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, he just seems different this year," Emma mutters. "Bigger, or something."

"Well, he's been training for the all England Quidditch team," I answer. "He probably has gained some more muscle since last year. Why, did you look?"

Emma blushes. "No. Why would I look at James? I mean, he's your brother."

"If you say so, Emma."

We reach the Potter cabin and head up to our room, where I slap on a pair of shorts and my old Quidditch training shirt. I throw my hair up in a ponytail and plop down on my bed, where I see that Emma is still riffling through her clothes.

"What's up?" I ask.

Emma snaps up. "What? Oh nothing, I just don't really know what I want to wear."

I laugh. "Who cares, we're on vacation."

"Yeah, because you don't care at all," Emma says sarcastically. "You chose that outfit because you know Teddy likes sporty girls, didn't you?"

"Or because this is what I wear all the time," I answer. I grab a green sundress from my luggage. "Here, wear this," I say, throwing it at her, knowing that her extra height will leave the hemline at a very flattering legnth.

Emma smiles. "Thanks, Lily."

"Yeah, no problem." As Emma throws on the dress, I can't help but wonder if her reintroduction to James has anything to do with her sudden interest in what she wears. Deep down, I really hope that she just wanted to wear something nice for her, and not for James, because I'm not sure I can handle my best friend falling for my joker of a brother.

***

Everyone gathers outside for dinner every night, as long as it's sunny. That's the rule for the Weasley vacation. No matter what we do during the day, we all come together to end it.

We are all mingling, waiting around for Nana to finish the dinner. Uncle Charlie and Uncle Bill are doing their annual picnic table wrestling when James comes up and throws his arm around my shoulder.

"Hey there, little sis." I roll my eyes. "How is the lovely sunshine treating you today? I see you're a little red in the face. Is that from the sun, or is it because Teddy just winked at you?"

My face grows warmer and I shove him in the ribcage with my elbow. "Shove off, James." Instead of leaving, James turns towards Emma.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Emma Longbottom. How goes things?"

A small blush is making its way up Emma's cheek, but she appears to hold her composure. "Oh, you know, they're going." I mentally shake my head. If Emma's trying to flirt, she's doing a really bad job of it. Scratch that. If she's trying to _talk_, she's doing a really bad job of it. Who says that? "How are you?"

"Well, as I'm sure my darling sister has told you, I got drafted for the all England Quidditch team."

"Oh, yes, she did tell me actually," Emma says. I don't understand why Emma always resorts to very formal speech when she's feeling nervous. "You play Keeper, right?"

"The same position you play, if I'm not mistaken," James adds. "Which is odd, given that Neville never had an athletic bone in his body."

Emma shrugs. "Well, I did hang out with one of the most Quidditch obsessed families at Hogwarts."

I feel like I'm invading something, so I turn to walk away, but Nana chooses that moment to announce that dinner is ready. We all walk towards the table. I end up between Louis and Emma, who is sitting next to James.

Throughout supper, James and Emma keep up a conversation about, not only Quidditch, but so many other things. He asks her about Potions, ironically her favourite subject, and she asks him about his cat, Arnold, who he's had since his seventh year and who always used to sit on Emma's lap. I'm not surprised they're getting along so well; Emma's the kind of person who can get along with anybody, and James has always made an effort to get along with my friends.

As Emma and I climb into bed that night, I decide to dig a little.

"So you and James seem to be getting along nicely."

"We always got along nicely," Emma says. "It's not anything new." Suddenly, I remember that Emma is very good at avoiding questions that she doesn't want to discuss, though she usually doesn't do it to me, unless she's worried about offending me.

"Well, yeah, you guys getting along isn't anything new, but you guys _flirting_ is definitely something new!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Emma replies, avoiding my question yet again. Stubborn at best, Emma can stand her ground against almost everyone, except me. I know exactly how to get her to speak.

"Oh come on, Emma, I saw you check him out, plus you were so flirting at dinner." Usually Emma is fairly open with her relationships with boys, but I guess that your best friend's brother may not be something that you want to gush about to said best friend.

"Okay, fine, he is really good looking this summer, but it doesn't mean anything." Emma snuggles deeper into her blankets.

I decide to drop it for the time being. As much as I love teasing Emma, the thought of her being together with my brother in any sense of the word is just too weird for me, so I roll over and fall asleep.

***

We're sitting on the beach again. I'm reading a book, twirling a piece of hair around my finger, and Emma is attempting to build a sand castle, but failing miserably. While the girl can brew a mean antidote, sand always beats her.

"Hey, Lily?" Emma asks, not taking her eyes or hands off of her collapsing castle.

"Mmm?" I reply, turning my page.

"Can I talk to you about something?"

"I guess," I say. I put a bookmark into my book and set it aside. I flip over and sit up. "What's up, Emma?"

"Remember how you were asking about your brother yesterday?" Emma says, running sand through her hand and avoiding eye contact.

"I was mostly joking, Emma. I was trying to give you a hard time," I say, pushing my hair off of my face. "I mean, you were all blushy and stuff, but you get blushy with just about anyone."

"Well, I had a dream about him last night," Emma says, wrapping her arms around her stomach, something she does when she's feeling exposed and self conscious.

Gross. I don't want to hear about some erotic dream my best friend had about my_brother_. "Merlin, Emma, I don't want to know." I say, getting up.

Emma grabs my hand and pulls me back down. "It wasn't like that, Lily. Gross, why would you even think that?"

"Because you said you had a dream? Dreams about boys normally result in things I don't want to think about."

"Well, this one wasn't like that. We were just sitting on the beach, this one, actually. It was maybe three years from now? His arm was just around me, and it just felt right. And then he got up, and he was fishing around in his pocket, but you arrived. Then you snorted in your sleep and woke me up. Do you think it means anything?"

"I need to save my snorts for better moments?" I quip? Emma gives me another Neville look. I sigh. "I don't know, Emma, I'm not a Seer." This conversation is slowly getting more and more uncomfortable.

"I think that you were right, Lily, I think I do like him."

"Emma, you don't need to do this."

"I think I must have always kinda liked him, you know? He was always so nice to me at Hogwarts and on vacation, and I suppose he must have just snuck up on me."

I look at Emma, but she's still looking at her feet. "Do you think...do you think that we'd ever really have a chance?"

"Emma," I say quietly, "I honestly have no idea. I mean, you're super pretty, amazing and so nice and all, but I really have no idea what kind of girl James is looking for. He hasn't had a girlfriend in like, two years."

"Do you know why?" Emma asks, finally looking at me. There's a weird look in her eye, like she's trying not to be hopeful, but that it's being unsuccessful. My sarcastic response dies on my lips.

"You know, I'm not too sure. He's never been open about his relationships with me."

Emma gets really quiet, and I suppose she must be thinking, so I lay my hand on her shoulder, give it a squeeze, and head for the water. I wade in to my waist then dive underneath the gentle waves. I let the water rush over me, but my worries don't wash away with the tide, so I surface, turn on my back, and just float.

It's not that I don't want Emma and James to be happy, I do, it's just I'm not sure that I want them to be happy together. I wonder if this is how Uncle Ron felt when my dad started dating Mum. It's not even that I'd be jealous that James would be taking up so much of Emma's time. Why would that matter if I'm moving to Romania in September? So what's my issue with James and Emma being together?

I look towards the shore. Someone has taken my spot on the beach next to Emma, and that person is James. He's telling her something, and she's smiling. A moment later, she laughs, and the sound reaches me. She sounds happy, happier than I've heard her in awhile. The last couple of months have been so stressful for her, with N.E.W.T.s and having no idea what she's going to do in the autumn. It's nice that she's getting the chance to let loose for a while, I suppose.

"What's on your mind, Lily?"

I turn and see Teddy floating alongside me. "Nothing," I reply.

"Yeah right. The only time you float is when you're thinking. You'd much rather be swimming along the bottom of the lake; you and I both know that."

"It's stupid," I reply.

"It's Emma and James, isn't it?" Teddy says. "You think it's weird that there might possibly be something between them."

I'm silent, so Teddy continues. "You know, Lily, it wouldn't be such a bad thing if the two started dating. At least you wouldn't have to worry about her seeing some jerk."

"I don't know, Teddy. I mean, it's my best friend with my brother, doesn't that seem a little odd to you?"

"You could always talk to Ron." He gives me a sideways look, and I laugh.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that."

Over the next few days, I watch Emma and James when they are together, which feels like a lot all of a sudden. Whenever James shows up, Emma's face lights up, and she looks so happy and carefree. I see the two of them laughing and talking.

Three days after my talk with Teddy, I see the two sneak off after lunch. That's when I figure there is definitely something going on between the two of them.

A few nights later, at about one in the morning, I hear tapping at our window. I walk over, yank the curtains aside and peer out, only to see James throwing rocks at the window.

"What are you doing?" I hiss.

"Trying to get Emma's attention!" James says.

"You know you could have just walked down the hallway and knocked on the door," I tell him.

"But that's not romantic!"

I shake my head and move away from the window. If them sneaking off together wasn't weird, this certainly was. I go over to Emma's bed and shake her.

"Emma, wake up, there's someone at the window for you." Emma rolls over and burrows deeper into the covers. "Emma, wake up!"

"Lemme sleep," she says.

"Look, James is at the window _right now_ and probably has some huge plan, so I'd get up if I were you."

Emma jumps up and goes to the window. I take this moment to take a bathroom break. I do not want to hear window gushing. As I renter the room, Emma walks out.

"I'm off to..." Emma starts, but I put up my hand.

"I don't want to know," I answer.

As I crawl back into my bed, I try to turn any thought of the two together from my head. That's just too gross for me to handle at one in the morning.

***

Emma sneaks in around six thirty. She's not very sneaky, I can hear her before she's even in the room. She must know I'm awake, because she jumps right on my bed.

"Lily, I just had the best night ever!"

"Ew, Emma, I don't need to know!"

Emma blushes, but continues on. "I wasn't talking about _that_. Merlin, Lily, get your mind out of the gutter. It was nice, we walked along the beach, went for a swim..."

"But you weren't wearing your swimsuit when you left," I say. Emma quirks her eyebrow. "Ew, never mind, moving on."

"And then we sat on the beach, and he said that he's been waiting to hang out with me for awhile. He said that he was just waiting me out, knowing that I would come around at some point. He said that he's liked me for, like, two years! Ever since that time our team beat his at backyard Quidditch."

"Well, that's convenient," I reply.

"Shut up, Lily. It was just all romantic and sweet and your brother is such a gentleman!"

"Are you sure we are talking about the same person? James? The guy who used to shove dungbombs in my suitcase?"

"Yeah, the guy who let me play with his cat all the time and helped me with my Transfiguration homework."

"I didn't know he did that," I say, sitting up and leaning against the headboard.

Emma shrugged. "It didn't seem relevant at the time." There's a huge, stupid smile on her face.

I groan. "Oh, Emma, you have it bad."

"I know, and I would really appreciate it if you could just be supportive."

I sigh. Maybe I should be more supportive of Emma and James. I mean, if James makes Emma happy, than that should make me happy. But more than anything, this relationship is not about me, it's about them. So I take a deep breath and turn to Emma.

"Fine. I'll try," I say.

Emma throws her arms around me. "Thank you," she whispers. Then she begins to tell me all about her morning. And I half listen. As far as I'm concerned, I can be supportive, but I don't need to hear all about their early morning escapades. Their relationship is just starting, there's plenty of time for me to accept it along the way.

It takes some time before I do accept it. Years, in fact. When James and Emma made their first appearance as a couple on the last day of vacation (it turns out James had packed swimsuits for their early morning escapade before hand), I did my best to smile like I meant it, even though I didn't.

Slowly, I became happy for my brother and my best friend, and when, three years later, I walk onto the beach with my towel and my book and see James rustling around in his pocket as he sits walks with Emma on the beach, I stop and remain silent, letting their moment happen. And when James finally proposes (in a surprisingly simple way), I smile. In that moment, I finally knew what I should have known all along - the two were meant for each other.


End file.
